
'5s;z,^ 



Copyright N"^^/^/^ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



3^oemsJ 



by 

SISTER M. BLANCHE 

of 

I THE SISTERS OF THE I 

I HOLY CROSS I 

^ I 

1 I 

\ 
I 



NEW YORK " I 

THE DEVIN-ADAIR COMPANY j 

437 FIFTH AVENUE ! 

I .,__! , , _i 



Copyright, 19 13 
ST. MARY'S ACADEMY 

NOTRE DAME, ST. JOSEPH CO., INDIANA 






C'-' 



Some of the verses included in this collec- 
tion have been published in the ^*Ave 
Maria*'' and are reproduced with the per- 
mission of the editor. 



©CU351660 



TO THE MEMORY OF 

JWotlier ittarp 9nnunciata 

SUPERIOR-GENERAL 

of the 

SISTERS OF THE HOLY CROSS 
1895-1900 



Contents? 





PAGE 


Trees ..... 


. 9 


From Bondage Free . 


lO 


Summer .... 


II 


The Wild Rose 


12 


A Symphony in Color . 


. 13 


The Aurora Borealis 


14 


When Winter Reigns . 


. 15 


The Opal .... 


17 


Of One Held Dear 


. 18 


Images .... 


20 


The Columbian Exposition 


. 21 


A World Guest 


23 


To S. M. L 


. 25 


To Keats . . . . . 


26 


Washington from Dumbarton Towers 


27 


What is a Sonnet? 


. 28 


Columbus I . . . 


29 


II . 


. 30 


Ill . . . 


31 


IV . 


. 34 


Noel .... 


37 


Cor Cordium .... 


. 39 


Gethsemane 


40 


Easter Morning 


. 42 


Emmanuel 


44 


The Angelus Bells . ... 


. 45 


Out of the Depths 


47 


Lady Immaculate 


. 48 


The Rosary's Music 


50 


In the Desert .... 


. 51 


May . . . . . 


52 


Salve Regina .... 


. 53 


St. Cecilia . . . . 


54 


To My Guardian Spirit 


. 56 


Ad Amicam . . . , 


58 



IN serried ranks or lonely state, 

Like veterans they stand, 
Through starry nights, through storm-swept days, 

To sentinel the land. 

I know not if I love them best 

When fledged with springtime green. 
Or when, with sylvan vesture clad, 

They deck the summer scene. 

And yet when autumn touches them 

With dyes unknown to art. 
Beneath that gorgeous color-spell, 

I needs must yield my heart. 

But, ah ! I know I love them well. 
When, all white winter through, 

With gray and lace-like tracery. 
They etch the curving blue. 



9] 



jfrom ponbage Jf ree 

FIRMLY around the mountain's lonely crest 

The glittering glacier's icy arms were flung; 
It drank the starbeams ; o'er its frozen breast 
A silver splendor hung. 

And far above, the sky's deep bell of blue, — 

Sprinkled with glistening pollen-dust of 
stars, — 
Hung like a harebell graced with golden dew, 
When morn her gate unbars. 

Nor moon's soft argent flood, nor starry dart 
The glacier pierced, until the wooing sun 
Upon it smiled, when lo ! its death-cold heart 
By summer warmth was won. 

Then down the mountain took their laughing way 
A thousand streamlets from ice-bondage 
free, 
Singing and leaping in their liquid play 
Into the heaving sea. 

As oft in anthem grand the singers hold 
A momentary discord, — then along 
The slope of silence run like molten gold, 
Rare, rapturous rills of song. 

[ 10 ] 



ummer 



WHEN laughs the morning 

In rosy skies, 
And on swift pinions 

Chill darkness flies, 
When the soft breezes 

In tree-tops high 
Sing with glad murmur — 

Summer is nigh. 

When comes the noontide, 

Radiant, divine, 
And the sun's goblet 

Pours golden wine. 
Drowsy earth slumbers, 

Save the bee's hum. 
Naught breaks the silence,- 

Summer has come. 

When Hesper trembles 

In the far blue. 
And twilight droppeth 

Soft tears of dew. 
Hark! in the gloaming. 

Mellow and clear, 
Sing hermit thrushes, — 

Summer is here ! 

[II] 



WHERE the wimpling water dallies 

'Neath a canopy of blue, 
In the dim and perfumed valleys, 

There, wild rose, is seen thy hue. 
There exhales thy life-breath fragrant, 
Borne on summer breezes vagrant, 

From bright petals starred with dew. 

Oft in rustic lanes and byways 

Hidest thou thy winsome grace. 

Making glad the dusty highways 
With thy softly blushing face; 

Or where sunlight pours its amber, 

Or in dells where ivies clamber. 

There thy home is, there thy place. 

Wilding rose that gaily gleamest 
Meads and tangled paths along. 

To my heart full oft thou seemest 

Like a sweet and wordless song; 

Than thy sister roses fairer, 

Thou, of beauty's palm the bearer, 
Leadest all the flowery throng ! 



[12] 



^ ^j>mpf)onj> in Color 

WHAT splendor now the autumn woodlands 
wear, 

Arrayed in gorgeous colors manifold! 

Bright hues that never mortal palettes hold, 
Now riot in those leafy temples fair. 
Brown, purple, orange, amethyst are there. 

With russet, beryl, emerald, rose and gold; 

And myriad tints, of loveliness untold, 
In this autumnal pageantry have share. 

Hail, weaver of this color symphony! 

What beauty. Nature, doth thy touch impart. 

Sweet music making to the 'raptured eye ! 

God's wonder-worker great thou seem'st to me. 

Forming from color tones, with matchless 

art, 

A hymn of praise unto the Lord most high. 



[13] 



tE^tie Aurora porealtg 

WHENCE comes this rosy-red, mysterious light, 
That bathes the cloud-flecked canopy of blue? 
Anon 'tis pink, and then to crimson hue 

It flushes with a radiance softly bright. 

See ! upward dart the fluted shafts of white, 
And now the tender star-buds, pale and few. 
In dewy depths, come trembling into view — 

A blush is on the dusky face of night. 

O God, thy glory on the sky is writ. 

Traced out in fire by ever-burning stars ; 
As o'er that mighty text, in shimmering bars. 
Auroral lights like raveled rainbows flit, 
Our souls to heaven upcaught and rapture-lit. 
Forget life's discord and its battle scars. 



[14] 



Wfjen Minter I^eigng 

YE poets who sing of blossoming spring, 

And June with her rose-enwreathed bowers, 

There are pleasures as keen in winter, I ween, 
When the frost-king holds sway o'er the 
hours. 

On wings of the breeze he steals through the trees, 
And breathes on the limbs, brown and bare ; 

Then branches rime-fledged toss blooms silver- 
edged. 
And gleam in the sun-lighted air. 

Where'er the eyes turn, lo! gems glow and burn 
Like diamonds far hid in dark mines. 

Or, as if baby stars had leaped their high bars 
To be tangled and caught in the pines ! 

Those snow-wreaths that dream beneath the 
moon's beam, 

A fleet of white shallops, pink-sailed. 
Once over the blue of ether seas flew, — 

From harbors of cloudland they hailed. 



[15] 



But when night sounds the march through yon 
purple arch, 
Of many a f ar-flashmg sun, 
Mere words are faint, faint, that splendor to 
paint — 
The beauty-crown winter has won ! 



[i6] 



tE^ije #pal 



IN shadows brown I saw an opal lie, 

Sombre as April sky, 
When far the sun supreme his light has hid, 

The ashen clouds amid. 

Gently I moved it where the sunbeam's play 

Caressed its face of gray, 
And lo! within the seeming-sterile gloom 

A red rose burst to bloom. 

Then emerald, crimson, violet — all rich dyes 
That stain the evening skies. 

Upon the jewel's magic mirror came 
In trembling maze of flame. 



[17] 



01 0nt llelb 3Bear 

WITH all the land aflower 
Beneath God's flawless bell of summer blue, 

When life was sweetest, fairest. 

And full of blessings rarest. 
An arrow from Death's quiver flew, 
Piercing a loyal heart and true, 

In sad, untimely hour. 

Now, nevermore, 
In Winter's rime or Summer's languorous hum. 
Through the long day or starry night, will come 
To hearts bereft and sore 
The friend whom we deplore. 

Now rests that weary brain. 

From toil set free and pain; 
From willing fingers falls the busy pen; 

And ah! forever fled 

The soul attuned to mirth 

E'en from its birth, — 
The charm, the winsome grace 
That dwelt in form and face, 

And gave them worth. 



[i8 



But mourning hearts, be still, 

Naught questioning of Heaven's will; 
E'en though on earth not e'er again 

She'll weave the matchless verse, 

And Mary's praise rehearse, 
That Mother-Maid has won a heart's release 

For paths of peace. 

With smile and tear 
Doth pass the pageant of each rolling year ; 
Gay Spring and golden Summer, soon to fade. 
And Autumn in her regal hues arrayed, 

Wan Winter clad in stainless snow, — 

All these will come and go, 
But nevermore her happy glance will know. 

Again in budding Spring 

The thrush will sing, 
The oriole his wooing notes let fall 

In plaintive call; 
But other ears than hers will list his song. 

The river's marge along; 
For while sweet Summer flies 

And birdsong dies, 
She listens to the music of the skies ; 
Her lonely, longing soul has found its rest 

On God's own breast. 



[19 



images! 

I STOOD upon a singing streamlet's marge 

Unkissed of skiff or barge, 

And saw an ashen boulder palely gleam 

Within the glassy stream, 

Cleaving the murmuring brooklet's silken flow, 

To myriad lights below, 

Until from out the boulder's stony heart 

The waters seemed to start. 

Then swift arose before my musing ken 

The Hebrew leader with his fainting men 

In desert wastes untrod. 

And streams that burst at Moses' smiting rod. 

Then, as I gazed, the sun its beams divine 

Poured down like golden wine, 

And broken ripples, catching amber gleams, 

Seemed liquid light of dreams. 

Or from the darkling rock took happy flight 

Gay butterflies of light ! 



[ 20 



Cfie Columliian €xposfition 

(Cfjicago— 1893) 
CITY, that lifts unto the bending blue 
The matchless splendor of white palace walls, 
Thy fame, embodied beauty, shall be sung 
By bards immortal of an age to be. 
But happier we whose ravished eyes behold 
The rare and dazzling radiance of thy charms. 
Fancies long lingering in the poet's mind 
Lo ! here have birth, and Athens' fame doth pale 
Before thy domes and stately minarets. 

Whiter than foam that crests the curling waves 
Thy snowy splendors shine. The cunning Greek 
Taught the cold marble how to live and breathe, 
But 'neath the magic touch of western hands 
The dull wood bursts to flower and leaf and vine. 
Even as lilies lift their petals pale 
From smooth or dimpled tarn, oh! not less fair, 
Laved by the azure of thy limpid streams. 
The stately beauty of thy temples white. 
Columbus, thine the magic name to call 
Forth from the artist's beauty-haunted mind 
Fair forms that erstwhile peopled his fond 
dreams. 

[21] 



All that can glad the eye, or thrill the soul 
To silent ecstasy, lo! here have place, — 
Arch springs from arch, as if in mad delight 
It multiplied its curving beauty rare; 
While all the portals blossom into flowers ; 
And where yon snowy peristyle uplifts 
Its columned loveliness to greet the sun. 
Dead heroes live again in sculptured stone. 

Yes, more than earthly beauty is thy dower. 
Thou fair, white city of a summer dream; 
And e'en the far-renowned Parthenon 
Fresh from the master touch of Phidias great. 
Surpassed thee not, thou flower of classic art. 
Behold how yonder fountains send aloft 
Their amethystine streams; and then upsprings 
The liquid ruby ; now the shimmering pearl 
Flies starward, ere again, in swift descent. 
They fall, like rain of jewels from the sky. 
Yes, blossom of the winsome May thou art. 
Whose breath still lingers on the autumn air; 
But like that snowy bloom of night, the cereus 

pale. 
Will fade thy frail and matchless loveliness; 
Yet still to memory shall thy splendor cling. 
One with the beauty of the twilight star. 
Or with the rose that blooms in morning skies. 

[22] 



^ OTorlti=(guesit 

LIKE soft-falling snowflakes in silence thou 
comest, 
Fair New Year, thou bringer of mirth ; 
And loud from each tower the mellow bells peal- 
ing 
Proclaimeth thy coming to earth. 

To greet thee, sweet music doth lend her soft 
magic, 
And fast speed the hours on fleet wing ; 
For thee the blithe-hearted are weaving gay gar- 
lands 
To crown thee, young New Year, as king. 

Draw nearer, O stranger, and read us the secrets 
Fast hid in thy mystical scroll; 

Will joy light our future, or wait us dark sorrows. 
Nay, speak, shall we reach our heart's goal ? 

All mutely thou gazest, with limpid eyes lifted, 
As if this sweet truth to impart; 

God's plans, like to flower-buds, unfold when He 
listeth, 
The future lies veiled in His heart. 

[23] 



As curves the gay rainbow o'er sun-lighted 
showers, 
So over man's tears e'er will bend 
That bright arch of promise, — the words of a 
Saviour, — 
Lo ! with you am I till the end. 



[24] 



So ^. ill. %. 

TO love the noble and the base to spurn 
Her nature 'twas, the hidden life her aim; 
And she, unheeding human praise or blame, 
Did ever for the holiest, highest yearn. 
White truth, unsullied honor, duty stern. 
For these her heart was e'er with love aflame, 
And ever linked with these will be her name 
While bright the stars in night's dark azure burn. 

And now afar from scenes of pain and strife 
She, who long years time's Via Crucis trod, 
Valiantly fronting days with danger rife, 
Or humbly bending to grief's smiting rod. 
Now quaffs the goblet of immortal life. 
Where glorious reigns her Master loved— her 
God. 



[25] 



SNATCHED in life's flower away 
Ere broke thy laureled day, 
Ere from thy spirit strong 
Burst half its prisoned song, 

Thou didst the great world-heart 
Win by thy matchless art. 
What though thy days were brief, 
What though surcharged with grief. 

Now o'er thine alien grave, 
Hard by the Tiber's wave, 
Oft to the Roman sky 
Riseth the pilgrim sigh. 

Honor and deathless fame 
Halo thy magic name. 
Ah! not ''in water writ," — 
Graved on our heart is it! 

Builder of lofty rhyme. 
Mage of the art sublime. 
Marble to dust may fly. 
Thy verse can never die. 

[26] 



OTagfjinston from Dumbarton 
l^otoers! 

EASTWARD and south the city Hes adream, 
White shaft and golden dome and soaring- 
tower 
Enwrapped in violet haze of autumn hour, 
Asleep beneath magician's spell they seem. 
Across the wold, Potomac's storied stream, — 
Whose banks the trailing willow trees em- 
bower, — 
Runs golden in the sunlight's dazzling 
shower, 
And 'neath the sky's blue concave bright doth 
gleam. 

Like as the city of an artist's brush. 

Serene it lies amid a landscape rare, 

Naught hinting of life's turmoil, din and rush, 
But breathing rest and joy forever fair ; 

And e'en from morn till twilight's holy hush 
A coronal of peace it seems to wear. 



[27] 



I^fjat IS! a bonnet 

A SONNET is a peal of silver bells 
In mellow cadence blending, beat on beat; 
It is a rare exotic flower sweet, 
Anon, a wilding rose of fancy's dells. 
Like unto veery thrush whose heart upwells 
In heavenly strains the ear of night to greet, 
Oft to a listening world in accents meet 
A tale of joy or grief the sonnet tells. 

An opal gray, it flashes sudden fire 
That smoldering in the soul to flame doth start; 
Or 'tis a flute whose notes soar clearer, higher, 
When breathed by lips impassioned; now a dart 
From prayer's quiver, winged with fond desire, 
Or mirror where is glassed the poet's heart. 



28 



Columliusi 

WITH fascinated eye the gazer looks 
Adown the vista of four hundred years, 
While flash upon the canvas of the past 
Dissolving views that chain his eager glance. 



See on the ocean's blue and crested waves 
A proud ship rides, upon whose narrow deck 
The captain walks, in meditation wrapped; 
And now he lifts his gaze where nightly watch 
Afar in azure depths, the patient stars. 
The while he dreams of undiscovered lands, 
That drink the beauty of these quenchless orbs. 
Borne on the west wind's fragrant breath, he 

hears 
Voices that call to him from shores far hid, 
Beneath the blue horizon's rim. Then yearns 
His mighty heart, to bear o'er ocean's waste 
Christ and His truths divine to wandering souls. 
Now, bending at the foot of kingly thrones. 
With lips anoint of God, and heart athrill, 
Columbus pleads for aid to find a world. 
Anon, the dupe of princes, scoffed at, scorned. 
Yet feels he still God's fire within him burn, 
His soul resolved to seek the golden Ind. 

[29] 



What though the world may scoff, 

Yet will I never, 
While throbs this heart of mine. 

Cease my endeavor. 

Far over sapphire seas 

God will yet lead me, 
Mary, my guiding star, 

Haste thee to speed me. 

II 

Like unto doves that build 'mid murmuring pines, 

The sons of Francis the Seraphic dwelt 

Within the convent of La Rabida, 

Among the cypress groves that crowned the hill 

O'erlooking liquid wastes. Beneath the sun 

Of Andalusian hills, with answering look. 

The many-twinkling smile of ocean gleamed ; 

While unto ears long deaf to traffic's din. 

Oft came the soft, low murmur of the sea ; 

Anon the angry surge's distant roar 

Seemed like the plaintive knell of passing souls. 

To-day, within the portal, spent and sad, 

The sailor-guest of Father Perez sits, 

Unfolding to the prior's listening ear 

The daring plan that fills his world-worn heart. 

[30] 



Of hope deferred he speaks, and broken faith, 
His soul e'er hearing a low voice divine 
That bids him hasten o'er the western waves. 
Columbus' kindling eye, and features lit 
With noble purpose, touch the friar's soul, 
And straightway knit the hearts of monk and 

guest 
In friendship's ties. A suitor at the court. 
The friar woos the aid of Castile's queen; 
He wins his cause, and soon Columbus hastes 
To seek that distant, ocean-girdled bourne. 

Like shining lance the sunbeams dance 
Upon the rippling waves and hoary; 

The sea breeze sings, and tidings brings 
Of lands now bathed in sunset glory. 

Speed, sailor, speed, nor bodings heed 

That bar thee from that beauteous vision; 

Thy good ship trim the waves will skim, 
And waft thee swift to lands elysian. 

Ill 

Now fades from sight the Andalusian shore, 
And through the foam-wreathed waves, with 

swelling sails. 
The squadron glides, its dauntless master calm, 

[31] 



Though, Atlas-like, upon him rests a world. 
Week follows week, still in the sun's bright path 
The vessels haste, on orient breezes borne, 
'Mid sobbing waves and distant seagulls' call 
Alone upon that sailless, lonely sea. 
Fears blanch the sailors' cheek, and stout hearts 

sink. 
Then fly from lip to lip fierce mutterings deep 
And threatenings dire, against the master soul, 
Within whose daring mind the cruise was planned. 
Like sea-girt cliff, around whose rocky base 
The breakers dash, their angry violence vain, 
Columbus stands unmoved, but patient still, 
He seeks to calm their groundless fears, and then 
Bids them recall the wealth of far Cathay; 
Her limpid streams that glide o'er sands of gold. 
Caressed by breezes from dark groves of spice; 
Pale, glistening pearls that rock in crystal seas. 
Or starry diamonds hid within the sands. 
Appeased by promise, moved by stern command. 
The conquered sailors once more ply their tasks. 
While deep in thought, the master climbs the 

tower. 
Scanning, with eagle glance, the shimmering sea. 
Hark ! on the breath of dying day there floats. 
In cadence sweetly sad, his page's voice : 



[32 



Sunny skies, sunny skies, 

Over the grieving sea. 
Oft for you my spirit sighs ; 

Spain, my heart's with thee. 
Fain Td fix my tear-dimmed eyes 
Where thy cloud-veiled mountains rise, 

Over the ocean lea 
Where the loyal ones, where the loving ones bide. 

Vine-clad home, vine-clad home ; 

Over the sail-winged sea, 
While in alien lands I roam. 

Come sweet dreams of thee. 
Soon my bark o'er curling foam 
Swift will fly to thee, sweet home. 

Over the billowy lea. 
Where the loyal ones, where the loving ones bide. 

The master heard, and brushed the gathering mist 
From eyes where patient longing made a home. 
But as he lifts his gaze, what dyes his cheek 
With life's warm hue? Before his startled sight 
Lies sandy beach with snowy lines of foam! 
Exultant cries of ''Land !" and cannon's roar 
Declare his word made good, and loud proclaim 
That unto Spain Columbus gives a world ! 

[33] 



IV 

In Barcelona's royal city now 

Gay banners float in silken glory where 

Men gather for a holiday, and joy 

Looks from each eye and wreaths each face in 

smiles. 
From balconies bright garlands hang; rare flowers 
Sway in the idle breeze. Gay cavaliers 
Speed to the city gates — an escort brave 
For him, the foremost sailor of all time. 
Who now, in truth, a conquering hero comes. 
And lo ! within a vast and splendid hall. 
Beneath a silken canopy of state, 
Spain's mighty monarchs sit. In graceful groups 
Stand haughty grandees, bright in gorgeous 

robes ; 
And here are beauteous ladies, whose bright eyes 
Vie with the jewels in their dusky hair. 

Erect among the flower of Spanish knights, — 
A glittering throng of lords, — Columbus walks; 
Nor Roman senator, in toga clad. 
Surpassed this stately finder of a world. 
Now proudly humble, on his knee he sinks 
Before the throne, when, with a royal grace, 
As if a prince were there, the sovereigns rise 
In honor of their Admiral of Spain! 

[34] 



Now Ferdinand and Isabella drink, 
With glowing eye and flushing cheek, and tale 
Of sunset lands; of gaily-plumaged birds, 
Whose songs bewitch the heart ; of trees festooned 
With trailing vines and bright with scarlet 

blooms ; 
Of lofty palms whose graceful, feathery crowns 
Sway to and fro upon the sighing breeze. 

As leap bright tongues of flame, from tree to tree, 
So spreads the fire of gratitude to him. 
Who, from old ocean's fierce and mighty grasp. 
Tore this proud land, henceforth its gem to be; 
And as the arrow from the bowstring flies. 
Then from the hearts of monarchs, courtiers, all, 
Uprose a glad Te Deum on the air 
To touch the throne of the Eternal God. 

O sailor great. 

Thy happy fate 
'Neath Castile's royal flag unfurled. 

Thy ships to guide 

O'er darkening tide. 
And lift the veil that hid a world ! 



[35] 



Each heart doth swell 

As others tell 
Of thy great deeds, fair Genoa's son; 

Thy peerless name 

With deathless fame 
Is linked, till time its course has run! 



[36] 



Mod 

WAR'S din was stilled, the brazen trumpet 

dumb; 
Within the scabbard slept the sword of strife, 
And 'neath the Roman eagle's wing, the world 
Drank the sweet cup of peace. A holy hush, 
Presaging issue high, fell o'er men's hearts, 
And in the sombre night of pagan gloom, — 
Oh ! miracle of love — heaven stooped to earth. 
And gave to fallen man the Prince of Peace. 

On Bethlehem's lamb-flecked hills the shepherds 

watched. 
While purple night, star-sown and fragrant, bent 
Above the fleecy folds, when lo! a light. 
Paling the myriad-flashing orbs, shone round. 
And in the golden sheen — like jewel set, — 
An angel stayed his flight. The startled air 
Thrilled to the music of his message sweet: 
'Tear not, for unto you this day is born 
A Saviour, who is Christ the Lord," and then 
Upon the shore of midnight silence broke 
Wavelets of melody that rose and fell. 
Like to the shimmering laughter of the sea. 

[37] 



'Mid snowy flash of wings in upward flight 
The herald angels faded from the view, 
Dropping melodious fragments of their song 
Down through the blue and starry floor of heaven. 

Anon, in orient skies flames out a star 
Whose mystic flashing woos from royal thrones 
O'er fervid seas of sand, the sages old 
To worship Him, the newly born, the Christ. 
Now in that lowly, long-sought midnight cave, 
With hearts bowed humbly at the Child-God's 

feet, 
Forgot their kingly state, they offer Him 
The fragrant tears of dusky, eastern groves, 
With jewelled veinings of the mountain's heart. 
The splendid pageant fades, then homeward speed 
With hearts elate the happy Magi guests, 
Their downward slope of life henceforth to be 
Lit by the radiance of Bethlehem's star. 



[38] 



Cor Corbium 

WHERE burns the sanctuary star 

In shadowy chancels, there the Heart divine 

How oft in lonely longings seems to pine 

For those who, wandering far 

To stranger gods— ambition proud, and fame, 

And languid luxury— forget His name. 

The voice all silvery sweet 

That erst through Judah's vales like music beat, 

The wayward wooing, still doth it entreat 

These hearts of ours. 

Why linger we to dally with life's flowers 

When scarce weVe quaffed their odorous breath 

They withered lie in death. 

Lo! in that Heart of hearts, the rose of love 

All other flowers above. 

Its leaves of flame immortally unfolds ; 

Undreamed delights, like perfume rare, it holds 

For him in whose pure breast 

The dove of grace hath built her snowy nest. 



[39] 



^tti)itmmt 



INTO the olive gloom 

Of lone Gethsemane the Master came; 

Softly the sombre trees, 

By low-voiced, murmuring breezes gently swayed, 

Upon night's loom 

Wove and unwove their web of light and shade. 

Afar, where many a palm of starward aim 

Tossed 'gainst the violet arch an emerald plume. 

The plaintive bulbul sang, his heart aflame. 

Wailing the Saviour's doom. 

But see ! He comes, the sinless Son of Man, 

Wrapping His Godhead in a form of clay. 

Behind dark clouds the wan moon veiled her light, 

Nor dared to scan 

The awful spectacle of that dread night, 

When prone upon earth's breast the Man-God lay, 

Pleading with silent Heaven to take away 

The cup that overran 

With wine of bitterest woe. Yet in despite 

Of terror dark, the Saviour thrice began : — 

Thy will, O God, — not mine, — be done for aye. 



[40] 



Bursting their wonted bonds, from every pore 

Softly the red tears fall, 

Wrung by a wordless anguish from His heart 

That with a burning love for men ran o'er. 

Acquainted He with grief, and with the smart 

Of woes that most appall, 

Yet with a God's own art 

On Calvary's round He played His mighty part — 

What could He more? 

Lifted 'twixt earth and sky, 

O loving Saviour, Thou with grief untold 

Didst ope for us a pathway to the blest. 

Thy tireless feet no more in sinners' quest 

Will kiss the Syrian sands to grains of gold; 

Yet from each altar high. 

Not as to transient guest or stranger cold, 

Thou callest to the wanderer of the fold 

In words that cannot die: 

O come, thou weary, laden one and rest, 

Like John of old. 

Upon the Saviour's breast — 

Here thy best Friend behold ! 



[41] 



Casfter iHorning 



GRAY bent the sky above the rock-ribbed tomb 
That clasped the Lord-Christ to its stony 
heart ; 

And far the star of morning gHmmered faint, 
Its fading beauty of the scene a part. 

And now that black-plumed night on noiseless 
wing 

Adown the west at day-dawn far has fled, 
Behold where Roman soldiers, sullen, keep 

Reluctant bivouac round the Mighty Dead. 

Tis day ; earth trembles and the soldiers fly ; 

For see! an angel clad in woven light 
Unbars the ponderous tomb, now tenantless, 

For Christ, the Lord, hath risen in His might. 

Be glad, O sun! O rolling, starry worlds. 

Sing blithe as in the first great morn of time ! 

Earth laugh with flowers, ye birds spill music 
down, 
Old ocean, chant your symphony sublime I 



[42] 



O heart of man, to rapture set thy beats. 

And love, upsoar on song's melodious breath; 

From earth's dark bosom springs the Flower of 
Life,— 
Thy risen God hath snapt the bonds of death ! 



[43] 



Cmmanuel 

THE world were bleak, and keen life's smart, 
Without Thy Eucharist-Presence, Lord ! 
But there Thou keepest watch and ward 

And waitest for the sad of heart. 

In hours of gloom, in hours of dole, 

When Thy sweet Presence I have sought, 
Surcease of sorrow Thou hast brought. 

And mystic healing for the soul. 

When, 'neath the chancel's ruby flame 
I lay my burden at Thy feet, 
Then peace benign and comfort sweet 

Within my heart a lodging claim. 

Then every cloud that o'er me lowers 

Doth lightly vanish into air; 

The daily fret, the carking care, — 
Somehow, they seem to break in flowers. 



[44] 



SWIFT in her dizzy flight, 

Half shadowed, half alight. 
Doth wheel our planet on her curving way ; 

Chained to the mighty sun, 

Ever her course doth run 
This world of ours from darkness into day. 

Venus, the evening star, 

Gleameth in ether far. 
Earth's fairest comrade of the planets seven ; 

Anon red Mars soft throws 

A radiance like the rose. 
The while it climbs the purple steep of heaven. 

Hark! on the listening ear. 
Silvery their tones and clear, 

Now fall the voices of the Angelus bells ; 
O'er hill and mead they float. 
As from the hermit's throat 

A gush of rapturous melody upwells. 

Over the whole earth round 
Floateth the mellow sound. 
With bird-like flutings sprinkling all the air; 

[45] 



Softly their pealings sweet 
Gabriel's great words repeat — 
''Hail ! Mary, thou of maidens art most fair." 

Yes, the all holy Son, 

Christ, thy pure heart hath won, 
And lo ! descending from His starry throne 

To lift a fallen race 

And man's first sin efface, 
From heaven He comes to claim thee for His own. 

So doth the Angelus-peal 

Forever round earth steal, 
Girding our planet with a music-zone; 

Or with melodious waves 

The happy earth it laves, 
Till daylight dies, or darksome night hath flown. 

Mary, fair lily-Maid, 

Ever in grace arrayed. 
For thee the bells fling wide their magic call ; 

In fateful hour of need. 

If thou for sinners plead, 
They not in vain at Mercy's throne will fall. 



46 



#ttt of tfie Beptfis; 

IN this heart's hour of conflict, Mother mine, 

I hasten unto thee ! 
Life's sky is gray, and storm-clouds darkly lower : 

In pity look on me! 

God's Mother, hear my bruised heart's one cry, 

Be near me lest I fall. 
Temptations fierce assail my fainting soul: 

Mother, on thee I call. 

Refuge of sinners, lo ! to thee I come. 

Who powerful art to save; 
Speak to thy Son for me, that He may still 

The storms that round me rave: 

That as the sky, when tempests dark are o'er, 

With light-beams oft is riven. 
So to my sin-dark soul may He accord 

One glimpse of thee and heaven ! 



[47] 



Hatrp immaculate 

VISION of loveliness, thou sinless one, 
Nor bard nor seer thy wondrous worth can tell ; 
Lady Immaculate, the heart grows faint, 
In vain attempt to sing thy virtues high. 
Part of eternity's vast circle thou. 
Who, linked with Bethlehem's mighty Babe, re- 
posed, 
A thought divine, for ages measureless. 
Within the bosom of the Father-God. 
Bride of the Spirit, ah ! but turn on me 
The unveiled splendor of thy heaven-lit eyes, 
That — as the earliest golden shafts of dawn 
Awake the dreaming lark and bid him trail 
Sweet sprays of song through empyrean blue — 
This heart beneath the lustre of thy glance 
May hymn thy praise, fair Mother of my God. 

No shade of primal sin that veiled the glow 
In Eden's happy skies, thy soul defiled; 
Dowered with all gifts, creation's masterpiece, 
Hearts sin-swept, Mary, fondly look to thee. 
Men call thee lily, but thy life's white page 
Doth put to shame the stainless lily-bloom. 
And Alpine snow-wreaths, bathed in argent light, 



Lose all their dazzling whiteness, matched with 

thee. 
As the lone lake in silent mountain-vale 
Gives back the stars that throb in violet depths, 
From thy fair form and radiant soul look forth 
The gathered graces of the Lord most high. 
Christ, the All-Beautiful, thou callest Son, 
Ah ! at His throne our loving pleader be, 
And upward lead our souls, O Maiden blest, 
To dwell forever in the smile of God. 



[49] 



LIST to the music, sweet beyond compare, 

Thrilling the autumn air ! 
Far heard above the ocean's sobbing plaint 

Are its low breathings faint. 
"Hail Mary'' sounds upon the listening ear 

In tones all silvery clear; 
From countless hearts upsoar the winged words, 

Like flocks of summer birds. 

''All full of grace art thou," the cadence swells, 

E'en as sweet vesper bells; 
"With thee the Lord doth dwell," the breezes sing, 

"Thy Son divine, thy King." 
As floats upon the air the sacred Name 

That from high heaven came, 
Back to their coverts shrink the demons dark, 

Hiding in terror stark. 

And when the heart is by life's anguish wrung. 

Thus grief doth find a tongue: 
"Mother, for sinners pray, this day, — that hour 

When Death asserts his power." 
So from the rosary's lute the Aves rise 

Up to the mystic skies. 
As when the rapt musician from his keys 

Smites heavenly harmonies. 

[50] 



3n tf)e JBesiert 

OVER desert wastes and lonely 
Comes a Maiden full of grace, 

Bearing in her arms the Christ-child, 
Saviour of a fallen race. 

Long the day, the journey weary- 
Pillowed now on earth's warm breast, 

Guarded by the holy Joseph, 

Babe and Mother sink to rest. 

While they slumber, shining angels 

Bid the sandy wastes to bloom : 
Lo! acacia, fragrant balsam. 

Almond, fig, and willow-plume 
Spring to verdant life and blossom ; 

Dances there a fountain bright; 
Over green and velvet mosses 

Bends the lily gleaming white. 

And as dawn with rosy fingers 

Flingeth wide the gates of day, 
Birdsong, windsong, perfume, flowers. 

Fondest greetings humbly pay 
To the Baby-God eternal. 

And the Mother-Maiden mild. 
At whose coming, isles of verdure 

Blossom in the desert wild ! 

[51] 



WITH fragrant incense wreathed and blossom- 
clad 
Comes radiant May, aglow with white and red ; 
And woodland pathways, 'neath her airy tread, 
Give up their flowery dead, and earth is glad. 
By silvery streams of song our musings sad 
Are exorcised, as wraiths of clouds overhead 
Melt into blue when golden beams are shed, 
And Mary's month doth seem with music mad. 

Ave Maria ! long within my heart 
Have love's forget-me-nots thy name entwined ; 
To childhood's white-souled hours thou didst im- 
part 
A nameless grace — O Maiden sweet and kind, 
When fades the dream of life in deathly smart. 
May I in thee a loving Mother find! 



[52] 



altie Eegina 



LADY of Mercy, Mother-Maid serene, 

All hail, thrice holy Queen ! 
Our life, our sweetness, and our hope thou art, 

Our very heart of heart. 
To thee we, banished children, yearning, cry 

With mourning and with sigh. 
The while we linger, through the lonely years. 

In this poor vale of tears. 
O gentle, gracious Lady, on us turn 

Thine eyes where love doth burn. 
And when at last, life's exile sad is o'er. 

Oh, show us, we implore, 
Jesus, thy Son, who once this dark earth trod, 

Our King benign, our God ! 



[531 



^t. Cecilia 

LO ! Cecilia at the organ, 
With her starry gaze uplifted! 
Fingers like to snowflakes drifted 
Woo soft strains from pliant keys, 
Heaven-inspired harmonies. 
At her touch what notes celestial. 
Now like dreamland music stealing. 
Now like silver bells' soft pealing 
On the trembling silence break. 
As when birds at dawn awake. 

In the minster's gathering twilight. 
Where the votive tapers glimmer, 
Where the rainbow light grows dimmer, 
As the rapturous notes ascend. 
Saint and sinner lowly bend. 
'Neath that magic spell exultant. 
Hearts on wings of music soaring. 
Contrite hearts their grief outpouring, 
Hidden in that holy shrine, 
Yield themselves to love divine. 

Now behold to heights most holy. 
Lady, speed thy notes immortal ! 

[54] 



open flies the heavenly portal, 
And adown the startled skies 
Wing fair forms of Paradise. 
Wake thee from thy dream ecstatic, 
Rapt musician, sainted maiden, — 
See! fair seraphs, lily-laden, 
Bear to thee on joyous wings 
Heaven's flowery offerings! 



[55] 



Wo 0iv (iuartrian Spirit 

ANGEL GUARDIAN, near me biding, 
All thy heavenly glory hiding, 

All thy grace. 
Fain would I in happy dreaming 
Pierce the cloud that veils thy gleaming, 

See thy face! 

In my musings oft thou wearest 
Mortal form of beauty rarest. 

Glorious, bright ! 
Wells of light thine eyes effulgent, 
Lips where lingers smile indulgent. 

Brow bedight 

With a glory, with a rapture. 
Never mortal skill my capture 

Or ensnare; 
Artist cunning ne'er can limn thee. 
Only heavenly strains can hymn thee, 

Guardian fair ! 

As I wander down life's highways. 
Or along its lonely byways. 
Come to me, 

[56] 



Like the song the lark is singing 
While his upward way he's winging, 
Thoughts of thee. 

Angel, in the hours of sorrow 
That await me on the morrow 

Of the years, 
Draw thou nigh in days of anguish ; 
And should fainting spirit languish. 

Banish fears. 

When my soul from life's dream waking, 
All its earthly bondage breaking. 

Is in flight. 
Guardian Spirit, then befriend me. 
Swift to heavenly courts attend me, — 

Realms of light. 



[57 



DEAR friend who dwellest in the magic West, 
Where swells and falls the great Pacific sea, 
What mighty barriers rise 'twixt thee and 
me! 

The white Sierras soaring crest o'er crest. 

Grim gorge and frowning canon's rugged breast. 
The Rockies springing skyward from the 

lea — 
All bar me from communion sweet with thee. 

Though keen the hunger of the heart oppressed. 

But when before the altar shrine I kneel, 

Where from the world Love's Prisoner 
dwells apart, 
Lo ! in that trysting-place divine I feel 

The absent near; then healed is sorrow's 
smart. 
And barriers vanishing that friends conceal, 

I see thee, hear thee, fold thee to my heart ! 



[58] 



SEP 12 1913 



